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It’s Poetry Friday!

Welcome to Poetry Friday! I’ve had a busy couple of months, filled with travel for young author presentations, school visits, and a big work-for-hire project. I’m looking forward to a more relaxed summer–but not so relaxed that I return to my slacker ways and forget to write! In an effort to jumpstart some summer writing, I participated in The Love of Poetry Challenge that was meandering around Facebook the past couple of weeks, and decided to write some poems to go with the gazillion and one photographs I’ve taken in May.

My inspiration for one poem was Elaine Magliaro’s “Things to Do If You Are a Pencil,” from Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems edited by Georgia Heard. I love the way this poem turns a pencil into a dancer who creates a poem:

Things to Do If You Are a Pencil

Be sharp.
Wear a slick yellow suit
and a pink top hat.
Tap your toes on the tabletop,
(read the rest of the poem here.)

Last week I got the chance to get up close and personal with a trilling gray tree frog, and think about things that froggy might do. My husband was clearing a clogged gutter and scared a calling male tree frog off a downspout. I further tormented the poor frog by moving him to a photogenic spot for his portrait. He leapt away after a few shots–here is the list poem I wrote as a tribute to him:

Things to Do If You Are a Tree Frog

Thaw in springtime. Climb a tree
and vault
from branch to branch.
Stick the landing with your toes.
Dress in barky gray or leafy green.
Join a choir.
Trill from treetops.
Wait for love to find you.
—Buffy Silverman, all rights reserved

This style must have seeped into my brain, because I found myself starting another list poem today for Laura Salas’ 15 word-or-less challenge. The dangling window washer’s boots that were in the challenge photograph somehow disappeared when I expanded the poem, but the window (or at least the window ledge) remains in this draft:

Things to Do If You Are a Window Ledge:

Cradle a nest of falcons.
Feel the grip of ivy’s roots.
Adopt a flower box.
Wear a cloak of cat or squirrel.
Warm up in the summer sun.
Welcome an evening breeze.
—Buffy Silverman, all rights reserved

Come fill your Friday with poetry! Please leave your links in the comment section, and I’ll add them throughout the day.

Jan Annino shares lines of a summer hat poem from E.B. White, an original summer poem, and a list of cool tips for a pregnant pal in humid hot, heated Florida.

Laura Purdie Salas and the other members of the Poetry Seven have been writing odes. Laura pays tribute to junk food.

Robyn Hood Black is studying nursery rhymes and offers a couple of views of “Mary, Mary.” I vote for the cowslips.

Jama’s Alphabet Soup is serving one of my favorite desserts–brownies–with a poem and recipe from Judyth Hill.

Heidi is back with a “Things To Do” poem, this one by Bobbi Katz (who Heidi thinks invented the form) who inspired the poem of Elaine that inspired the poems of Buffy.

Tricia has also been writing odes. I’ll admit that I often find myself thinking of new lines/rewriting a poem on the porcelain throne. Tricia found inspiration there too with her “Ode to Where My Backside’s Been.”

Kimberley shares a poetic recipe for bread starter that’s handed down from baker to baker…and teaching second graders!

Mary Lee shares a poem by Billy Collins and her own thoughts about silence as the school year comes to a close. Be sure to answer Mary Lee’s call for roundup hosts for July-December.

Over at Reflections on the Teche Margaret has written a poem from the notes she took while listening to a traiteur, a Creole healer.

Jim shares an original pantoum (which my auto-corrector wants to change to phantom..) that should put us all in mind for summer: “I’m Jealous of the Watermelon Seed.”

Donna has been playing in the tall grass, and has a poem to show for it at Mainely Write.

Liz is also contributing an ode–this one inspired by her curls and her girls.

There’s a birthday party (have a happy!) with plenty of cat love (or at least cat poems) at Gathering Books.

At her Hatbooks blog, Holly writes about the Kenji Miyazawa poem “Ame ni mo makezu” often translated as “Strong in the Rain.”

Over at TeachingAuthors April shares 3 Ways to Inspire A Poem…with a poem about a little god who’s looking for a poem…and what the clouds say about that.

Cathy has been watching fluff floating in the air. She shares two poems about “summer snow.”

Happy Yesterday Birthday to Ramona, and her birthday twin–Joyce Sidman. Ramona is celebrating Joyce’s poetry, in honor of their shared birthday.

Over at Poetry for Children Sylvia shares this week’s exciting poetry news: Jacqueline Woodson is the new Young People’s Poet Laureate! Sylvia also shares a favorite poem from Jacqueline’s Brown Girl Dreaming.

That’s all for now, folks. If I missed your link or made an error please let me know!

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57 thoughts on “It’s Poetry Friday!”

hi, Buffy. I’m catching up on posts I missed when I was traveling earlier this summer. I love Falling Down the Page! It’s filled with poems that make great models for writing. I used a Naomi Shihab Nye poem from the book with third graders this year and they did a great job writing from her model. The opening line of your ledge poem is really wonderful.

Thanks for stopping by, Laura–Falling Down the Page is a wonderful book to use with young ‘uns! (And thanks for reminding me of my window ledge poem, which I meant to revise and forgot about once I posted it.)

Buffy, when I first read this post, I remember thinking that your tree frog poem would be a good fit for Soring’s Symphony Gallery. I am finishing the designs and wondered if you would like me to post the poem and photo. I would be delighted to do so.

Hi, Buffy, thanks for hosting. I understand if it’s too late to join this week’s Poetry Friday party, but I’ll give it a shot. My post is about the new Young People’s Poet Laureate announced this week: Jacqueline Woodson. FYI. Have a great summer!
Sylvia

I hope that readers will enjoy the different versions of the poem and consider the process of translation of poetry. How I wish there were more poems for children and teens translated from Japanese into English!

Thanks for hosting us Buffy. I wish I’d read your post before I wrote my poem titled OF THE DAY. I could have tried for What to do if it is a gray day. I also talk a little about editing, and pose a poetry challenge. I’m at http://www.poetryforkidsjoy.blogspot.com

I can’t get to Tanita’s post no way, no how. Not sure where to go even when I get to her site. I’ve tried her link in her comments and your link, and then tried the calendar even that she has on her page. There doesn’t seem to be anything there. Help!

Oh, man—I’ve always wanted to be able to sing. I think I’d be a frog if they’d let me in the choir. This form is SO fun, and you’ve done a lovely job of keeping it precise and yet, expansive, letting us feel the joy of being a frog.

Besides being fun overall, these poems work so well with inanimate objects (love your “Window Ledge”!) because they access the dramatic in us–and as such I’ve had really great success in using this form with kids who are the great pretenders.

I’m not posting today–my poetry stance this week is ranting about my hard life #firstworldproblems–so I’ll just shut up and enjoy the smorgasbord.

Buffy, thank you for hosting Poetry Friday today. I loved your imaginative poems. This line stood out: Wear a cloak of cat or squirrel. Taking the ordinary and making it into a noteworthy object is what you did for me. Today, I am offering my piece on “Envisioning Spring’s Symphony” as I gear up for the design of my newest gallery. I am hoping that many Poetry Friday friends will contribute poem/photo combinations to grace the gallery’s wall. You can find my post at http://beyondliteracylink.blogspot.com/2015/06/envisioning-springs-symphony.html.

I loved your window ledge poem, Buffy, when I saw it this morning, & love Elaine’s poem too. Plus, I had interactions with several frogs on my trip to the Chesapeake Bay with my students. I love frogs & we see them rarely in Colorado. I like “Join a choir”-of course! I had my final week of school with students this week, really my final week-I’m retiring. My post speaks of that, but also thinking less of what’s next & just being present. Thanks so much for hosting! http://www.teacherdance.org/2015/06/poetry-friday-im-right-here.html

I am having frog envy. With the drought, they’re a bit quieter this year… but I expect that we’ll have a mild winter, and they’ll be baaaack! Meanwhile, great shot of that one, and I love the phrase, “stick the landing.”

I’m in with an ode like my six poetry sisters – mine is an Ode to Adornment, cause what else is there to do on a Friday but sing to your bling? The link is here.

Great tree frog, although he seems irritated. 🙂 I especially like: Stick the landing with your toes. That should be my motto in life. Really, what more could one want? I love the Georgia Heard poem, too. I will never look at a pencil that same way again. Here is my contribution:

Thanks for hosting! Love these, Buffy…tat ‘stick the landing’ line really is a winner. I’ve read other excerpts of Georgia’s book and I need to find it – and write some of my own! Today, I’m also sharing a poem that first appeared on Laura’s blog, and am inviting folks to check out this past Tuesday’s post about Poetry Voiceovers: http://wp.me/p2DEY3-1gO

Buffy, I love the idea of Things to Do poems! Elaine’s “dance a poem across the page” line in the pencil poem is lovely. Your window ledge poem really makes this inanimate structure come alive. I’d like to try my hand at this style soon.

I love Falling Down the Page: A Book of List Poems, too! It’s such a fun book. And I love the poems you wrote. Both have that Buffy charm that shows the world around us in an extra special way.
Thanks for hosting.
For Poetry Friday,I have have Carrie Finison collaborating with her daughter and son on A Great Nephew and a Great Aunt.http://wp.me/p22d5X-1cx

Hellloooo, Buffy! I can always count on you to bring the close-ups of the natural world, and some very lively poems. Love your tree frog poem… On the fitness trail here this morning, an older gentleman stopped me and asked if the cacophony of noises he was hearing were frogs. (He doesn’t live here year-round.) Oh yes, I assured him – especially after the deluges we’ve had the last couple of days.

I LOVE that book, and I often share Elaine’s poem, because I write Things to Do If… poems with students a lot. My next book out with Millbrook is one big Things To Do If… poem, in fact. I love your Stick the landing line, especially–clever! And the “wear a cloak” line–lovely.